FRED ROBERTS HOTEL

THE MARTIN THEATER / THEATRE DUBLIN

CARNAGIE LIBRARY

FIRST NATIONAL BANK - GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE

First African Baptist Church

In this church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his first political speech in 1944.

Martin Luther King, April, 1944

PIECES OF OUR PAST

PIECES OF OUR PAST is a blog which features my columns on the history of Laurens County, Georgia and East Central Georgia as well as my photographs which document little seen pieces of our present.

I hope you enjoy them and I encourage you to write about your own history and heritage. No one's heritage is any less important than any one else's. You can find history wherever, you look, in your family, your church, your profession, your hobbies, your neighborhood, your community, etc. As you read pieces of our past remember that our most important history is in our future and not in the past.

Col. John Laurens, of South Carolina

Namesake of Laurens County, Georgia

CSA Monument

Laurens County

WRITING

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions of superiority. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. "I believe writing is derivative. Good writing comes from good reading. I can't tell you which writer's rhythms that I am imitating. It's not exactly plagiarism, it's falling in love with good language and trying to imitate it" CHARLES KURALT

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Dublin City Hall, 1904-1959

OCONEE RIVER BRIDGE, 1914

MRS. FRANCES FORDHAM POWELL

Mrs. Powell was one of the best teachers ever to teach in the Dublin City School System. She taught English to me in the 11th grade (1972-1973,) Although I admit my writing style comes from television and documentary programs and life in general, Mrs. Powell laid the basic foundation of the way I write along with thousands of us who were lucky enough to have had her.

Popular Posts

There is a story, said to be true, about an Army officer traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to Macon, Georgia in the late afternoon of a day in the middle years of World War II. Parts of it I have to explain to those of you who have not lived in or near Dodge County for a long time. For those who have, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

It was getting dark and the officer decided it would be a good idea to stop in Hawkinsville to get something to eat, fearing that there would no place open by the time he got to his destination in Macon. So, he pulled in at a roadside eating joint. Beside the front door were two older gentlemen sitting on a bench. As he approached the men, the officer saw one of them reading a newspaper with a big headline on the front page. The man read out loud, "Germans take Milan." Here's the explaining part. The man pronounced the word "Mi-lun," a reference to a small town in southeastern Dodg…

Ronnie Gay, Lamar Jackson and Quinnon Sheffield were actual
troopers of the Georgia State Patrol when the movie was filmed
in 1977. The troopers basically played themselves in this popular
movie of the 1970s.

We were scared. The threat of Russian attack on our country was real - underline “real.” The Cold War was never more cold than it was in 1960. Sitting right near the center of Middle Georgia was the Air Force base at Warner Robins, which would have been a prime objective of an attack on the southeastern United States. Local governments were establishing Civil Defense departments in case of a land war or nuclear attack. It was the days when a Nike was a missile, and not an athletic shoe.

The Air Force set up a defensive perimeter around Warner Robins. One early warning base was established near Byron and the other five miles south of Jeffersonville. The eastern base was built in 1960 in Twiggs County just off Highway 96 about a quarter mile northeast of its intersection with I - 16 at Exit 8. The mission of the bases was to detect an incoming enemy missile or plane and to shoot it down with their batteries of Nike missiles.

Every community has it share of odd and mysterious happenings. And, during the last quarter of the 19th Century, Sandersville, Georgia had its share and more of unbelievable stories which some people doubt until today.BUTTON, BUTTON, GUESS WHO’S GOT THE BUTTON ?- Hyman Herman, who loved to fish in the waters of Keg Greek, returned to town with one of the most unbelievable fish stories ever heard. No, Herman didn’t catch a two-headed fish or a fish with a snake inside of it. His catch was much more fascinating. Herman loved fishing and was so good at it that he often shared large portions of his catch with neighbors and friends. Herman gave one such string of his fish to Mack Duggan. While Duggan’s cook was preparing a large catfish for supper, she was astonished to find two brass buttons, which were not unbelievably unusual since the catfish are scavengers of the bottom. What was fascinating is that one button read “General Wheeler, 1864,” w…

Rentz, Georgia is located in central Laurens County, Georgia, about thirteen miles from the county seat of Dublin. It is named for Edward Pierce Rentz, a banker, a sawmill operator, and president of the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad. E.P. Rentz was born in 1862. He was a son of Rev. Joseph Rentz and Martha McGeehee. Joseph was a minister in the Methodist Church. His family, originally called “Von Rentz,” settled the German Salzburger community at Ebenezer, Georgia. Martha McGeehee’s family’s roots were deep in Methodism. Her brother, Rev. John McGeehee, the founding minister of the First Methodist Church in Dublin, still holds the distinction of being the longest serving active minister or presiding elder in the history of the Methodist Church in Georgia with 65 years of service. E.P. Rentz married Katherine Gaston, whose family traced its roots to Bishop Lovick Pierce and George Smith, two major stalwarts in 19th century Georgia Methodism.

For all of his eighty-nine years, Mosie Lister has loved the Lord and music. This is the story of how a tone deaf Cochran, Georgia native grew up to become one of the greatest songwriters and performers in the history of Southern Gospel music.

Thomas Mosie Lister was born in Empire, Georgia on September 8, 1921. His parents, Willis U. Lister, a farmer and barber, and Pearl Hobbs Lister a farm housewife, made sure that music was heard and made in their farm home in the Empire District of Dodge County. When his parents tried to teach Mosie how to sing, they discovered that he could not distinguish sounds. Through his studies of piano, guitar and violin, Mosie's tone deafness improved. Lister spent hours studying song writing and musical theories in his early years. With his musical impediments behind him, Mosie gave his life to God when he was seventeen years old. Just before his graduation, Mosie won $10.00 as the second place finisher in a fiddling…

You may ask your self, what does Andy Griffith have to do with the history of Laurens County and East Central Georgia. Is there a relationship between the North Carolina born actor and our area? Unfortunately, there is no tie with the legendary television icon. By now, you may have realized that the Andy Griffith show premiered on television fifty years ago this past Sunday night. Whether you realize it or not, this show, which never garnered Griffith or the show itself a single Emmy award, has effected our lives in some way.
The lessons which Andy, his family and friends have taught us have been many, some obvious and others subliminal. Love of family and friends is right there at the top. Perhaps most important among the lessons which Andy learned as a parent was that parents were not always right and children were not always wrong. It was about love of one another, treating each other with respect, even the bad guys some times. It was about patience and e…